On why architecture matters: the exhibition experience

Starting from the three most basic components of the exhibition experience, namely subject, aesthetic object, and context of fruition, this work moves from traditional aesthetic philosophical theories to acknowledge the centrality of space and architecture, whether built or temporary, in the way we make sense of artworks and their interrelation. While exhibitions have been evolving from a mere economic and historical value-based perspective to embrace new social, didactic, and artistic goals, research in phenomenology first and neurocognitive sciences later has addressed the centrality of bodily perception and environmental affordances in our experience of artistic objects. As an integral part of my current doctoral research, this contribution addressed the evolution of the exhibition form in contemporary times, both in its conceptualization and implementation, together with our understanding of the way we experience and make sense of it.